Reynolds Cousin Joins Witnesses Against Him

April 05, 1997|By Suzy Frisch, Tribune Staff Writer.

Prosecutors continued to try to build a fraud case against former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds on Friday, introducing evidence that he broke federal campaign finance laws by using large amounts of undocumented cash during his 1992 and 1994 campaigns, forged checks and illegally used donations.

Reynolds' first cousin, John J. Reynolds, testified that he started out working as a driver and doing security for his cousin's campaign, and later became a signatory on the campaign bank account.

John Reynolds said the defendant and his wife, Marisol, asked him to sign 25-30 blank checks, totaling $150,000. The government claims about $35,000 worth of those checks were later made out to cash, while others were made out to Mel Reynolds and designated as reimbursements for loans made to his campaign fund.

Prosecutors also called Joseph Barton to testify about Mel Reynolds' use of campaign donations. Between January and June 1994, Reynolds used money donated by the International Hotel Employees Union to the 17th Ward Independent Democratic Organization for state and local election work, said Barton, who incorporated the organization and was its treasurer. A Federal Elections Commission official testified Thursday that it is illegal to spend such donations on federal elections.

Reynolds spent 80 percent of the union's $50,000 in donations on his campaign, Barton said. He said Reynolds failed to inform him that the expenditures were illegal and that the union specifically said the funds should be used for local election functions.

"I felt shamed and used all these months," Barton said.

Terri Bernstein was finance director for Reynolds' 1992 campaign for three months. She testified Friday that she quit when her duties were lessened after she questioned Reynolds about his campaign's financial practices.

Bernstein said she was concerned that Reynolds conducted most of his business in cash, preventing her from keeping accurate records of expenditures and incoming donations. She said she told Reynolds several times that he was breaking FEC regulations by dealing in undocumented cash, but Reynolds "would become very angry" and not change his ways.